About this Abstract |
| Meeting |
2027 TMS Annual Meeting & Exhibition
|
| Symposium
|
Materials and Chemistry for Molten Salt Systems
|
| Presentation Title |
Microstructural Degradation study of Ni20Cr and Hastelloy N in CsI-Bearing LiCl-KCl Molten Salt using electron microscopy |
| Author(s) |
Aaron Gabriel S. Penders, Alejandro Ballesteros, Jana Howard, Kaustubh Bawane, Trishelle , Gregory Holmbeck, Karen-Chen Wiegart, James Wishart |
| On-Site Speaker (Planned) |
Aaron Gabriel S. Penders |
| Abstract Scope |
Molten salt reactors using chloride salts as coolants benefit from the low salt melting temperatures, favorable neutron economy, and reduced volatility relative to fluoride alternatives, but these salts remain corrosively aggressive toward Ni-based structural alloys, particularly as fission products accumulate during operation. Among these, cesium and iodine are produced in high fission yields and are commonly introduced together for testing purposes as CsI to study their combined effect on structural materials. In this study, Ni20Cr and Hastelloy N wires are corroded in LiCl-KCl-10 wt.% CsI at 500°C and the resulting corrosion fronts are characterized using state-of-the-art STEM techniques. Typically observed corrosion modes include general dealloying, selective Cr dissolution, and intergranular cracking, with elemental and valence-state mapping distinguishing alloy-dependent corrosion pathways. The combined dataset links observed microstructural damage directly to the underlying CsI redox chemistry, providing a mechanistic, microscopy-resolved account of cesium-iodide-driven corrosion in chloride molten salt reactor alloys. |
| Proceedings Inclusion? |
Planned: |
| Keywords |
Nuclear Materials, Characterization, Environmental Effects |